SR-009 vs Orpheus/SR-Omega/O2s?

Dear Jaycalgary,
    I dont know but it does sound like the most expensive tubes possible

 
    You should not look at my behaviour.  I am in the learning process so I would like to try many tubes
and I am blessed enough to be able to afford those.
     However, for the amplifier builder they will try to bring the cost down for the customer so they will use
best buy tubes and they will have options or recommendations for you to use a better but higher priced items.
I don't know much about the 6L6GC's which were used as power tubes in the Electra but I trust Craig that
he will use the best buy tubes for you.  For the 6SN7's tubes that I have some knowledge you don't need to
use the Tungsol BGRP which may cost up to 450$ a pair now but you may use the 1578 Russian tubes which
may cost 140$/4 tubes or Tungsol 6SU7GT .  You can also use the 6F8G's quad like the National Union  which
are around one fourth of the cost of   the BGRP and still get almost the same sound quality.  There are several
excellent blogs in head-fi that will discuss about the 6SN7 : 6SN7 addicts.   Purrin and Anaxillus can also
recommend which best buy tubes to use
      I apologize for drifting away from the topic of comparing SR009 with other hiend phones, please PM
instead

The 6SU7GT is a 6SL7 type and not a 6SN7. Two completely different tubes and not interchangeable except for the pin-out.
 
The 6F8G is internally a 6SN7 type, but it has a completely different pin-out, and without some sort of adapter, putting one in a socket meant for the other would likely result in "fireworks".
 
 I've always been a fan of Moth and Eddie Current. Whatever design Craig's "Electra" amp may be, I'm looking forward to hearing it! 
 
Now, hopefully back to the SR009.

Dear Frankcooter,
   Thanks for correcting me.   Just a short comment as I don't want to drift away from SR009.
   Yes 6SU7GT is not 6SN7 and 6F8G cannot be used without a special adapter.  We should
consult our amplifier builder before using it, in my amplifier I can use both.  You also have to
be careful to use the 6SL7's and 7n7
   Back to SR009 , by passing through BA as an amplifier I found that the sound of the HE90,
SR Omega, SR009 and O2mkI sounds so good and more similar.  The O2mkI is still darker
but less and the thin delicate , quicker mid of the SR009 can be tamed down to a very satisfying level.
I have used the 68FG's as the drivers for the preamplifier function and found that Tungsol BGRP 6SN7
GEC B65, NU 6sn7's are those 6SN6's that I find better performance.  I have a brief listening to the
GEC BL63 (father of B65) and found that it's the best of the best : the mid is very sweet, smooth
(as silk) flowing mid without any grainy and has an intimate feeling too.   However I can not use
the BL63 for long time because I need to adapt my transformer first.  For the 6F8G   I found that the
National Union, Tungsol and Raytheon are best.   Now I connect the balanced Stax through the preamplifier
so that it tame the SR009 .
 

I recently put together a DIY T2 for Kiertijai, and he kindly lent me all the best electrostatic headphones for me to try.  They are HE60, HE90, SR009, SR Omega Mesh Stators, and SR007 MK1. 
 

 

 
The tubes on T2 are also probably the best money can buy: Telefunken CCa, and Gold Lion KT77.
 

 

 
To my ears, Orpheus deserves it's top and best sounding position. The phones are very comfortable to wear, sound stage is big, wonderful mids and highs, and bass goes down very deep.  It's just a kind of headphones that you can listen to them and enjoy the music for a long period of time without getting tired.  I also really like SR007 MK1.  It comes very close to how the Orpheus sounds - very relaxing.  As for SR009, it certainly sounds brightest among all other headphones.  It's very efficient.  It's fun to listen to them with more lively music.  I really like it too.  When it comes to SR Omega Mesh Stators, it sounds different.  I feel that the phones really need a lot of power to drive.  I have to turn up the volume a lot more.  The sound is amazing even though the bass isn't as tight as the rest. HE60 sounds fantastic too.  However, with a direct comparison with all these big brothers, it just doesn't stand out.
 
Base on my overall impression, here is my ranking: Orpheus HE90, SR007 MK1, SR009, SR Omega Mesh Stators, and HE60.
 
By the way, I also have a chance to A/B test my own DIY headphones with these great headphones.  All I can say is, if you can DIY an ultimate electrostatic amp, you can certainly DIY a pair of ultimate electrostatic headphones. 
 
Wachara C.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by chinsettawong /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Base on my overall impression, here is my ranking: Orpheus HE90, SR007 MK1, SR009

Click to expand...

I agree with this order in terms of descending SQ.

I would like to congratulate Chinsettawong on his success of building the DIY T2. We all know that this is hard work and is very risky and he finished that in less than 6 months. I myself have listened to these headphones (except his DIY headphone which I hope to hear it soon) with Stax 727A modded .  I don't think the SR009 matched very well with that except using with tube preamplifier. The preamplifier function of BA can widen the soundstage (which is a limitation of the Stax amplifier).  With tube rolling using KenRad VT231 or Sylvania 6SN7W metal base I found that it can also improve the bass respones (which is also a limitation of Stax headphones comparing to the dynamic or orthodynamic headphones : R10 or LCD).  Matching with a tube amplifier of the DIY T2 and tube rolling with Gold lione KT77 seem to improve the performances of the SR009. I hope I can hear the DIY T2 soon and it is most likely that I will move the SR009 similar to the list made by Chinsettawong and agreed upon by Majkel. I will also try the Mullard 4109 drivers and Philips XF4 power tubes to help. Hope to hear more impressions from him and Thai head-fiers soon.

pics of the T2?

Copied from the Stax Thread - Click to enlarge.
Freakin thing is a BHSE on streoids...
 

Thanks, Livewire!
 
Here are more pics:
 

 

 

 
We will have a mini meeting this afternoon, and more impressions will be coming.  Stay tune!
 
Wachara C.

Is it possible to place the amplifier on top of the PSU unit?
I heard that the amplifier runs very hot and in some unit you can boil the egg
placing on the amplifier.
Please give more impressions after the minimeeting.
Hope to see the pictures of the amplifier with the KT77 and TFK Cca too.

Hi Kiertijai,
 
I really wish you could come and join the minimeeting today.  Well, the amp is running pretty hot indeed, but it's not too bad.  I can touch the heatsink and count 1 to 10. 
 
I'll take more photos and ask our guys to give their impressions afterward.
 
Wachara C.
 

Quote:

chinsettawong said:

Base on my overall impression, here is my ranking: Orpheus HE90, SR007 MK1, SR009, SR Omega Mesh Stators, and HE60.

Click to expand...

Congrats on the beautiful amp   Out of curiosity, does your ranking hold consistent for other stat amps, or is this only relevant to the DIY T2?
 
The two things I'm really enjoying about the SR007 is how tuneable the sound is, and how non-fatiguing they are.  After I finish tweaking my setup, I'd like to give a SR009 another shot.

We  will try to compare the DIY T2 with the Woo Wes soon.  Birdoffice has informed us
that the SR009 works very well with the Woo Wes with tube rolling to tame down the brightness.
However he cannot make it for this mini-meeting due to the flood problem.  His Woo Wes has Stax and HE90 sockets.
Other Stax amplifiers can not drive the HE90 or HE60 e.g.Stax 727A (modded),  Stax 007T so we can compare only
the O2mkI, O2mkII , 507 and SR009.
My Spritzer modded SRM 300 can drive th HE90 well enough but cannot drive the O2mkI
So different amplifiers may have some limitations.
We don't have the BHSEs in Thailand, we have to wait for the next batch of BHSE and at the time we will have
2 BHSE's , hopefully in Q1 of 2012.  However we think the DIY T2 should sound similar to the BHSE and is probably
better : Freakin thing is a BHSE on streoids....   @Livewire

Big thank for Kiertijai and Chinsettawong for your wonderful amp and headphones. I join the mini meeting today my personal review feedback below.
- DIY T2 is powerful to drive any headphones in the meeting today including sennheiser he90, stax omega, stax 009, stax 007 mk1 and chinsettawong DIY electrostatic headphone at very satisfied level.  I would rank it at the same class of my woo wes if It can get the suitable tube between 2 quad and may be fine tune solder wire eg Oyaide or mundorf. (same as my woo wes that required tube rolling and fine tune solder to get best out of it) Current KT77 sound didn't match with the telefunken cca. Tele cca give a smooth soft while match with KT77 have same char make them too soft. We do tube rolling to KT66GEC as well as mullard el34 xf2. Xf2 seem to be better match since it increase sweet tone. I think it is a problem for Kietijai to find the suitable match 5555 since he have too many best tubes, best headphones and best amps for rolling (see his signature). We should try el34 metal base or KT88 GEC nos on it.
-Sennheiser HE90 still best in class, very relaxing, 3D like listen on the speaker.
-Stax Omega need more power to drive compare to other. Very good dynamic, best for pop rock like you will get from Orthodynamic. Sound like HE6 with proper amp.
-Stax SR009 give best sweet for female vocal sound, less 3D compare to HE90 and brighter than other.  We also try to improve 3D and reduce the brightness by double pad (put spare pad of he90 on top of stax pad) to improve the sound stage and air space in the phone.  It work very well.
-Stax SR007 mk1 - overall sound signature a bit darker than 009. Not too bright like 009  and too dynamic like omega. Many person in the meeting rank it as 2nd best overall sound
-DIY headphone have biggest delimiter. More difficult to drive but if you can get powerful amp it will give very good sweet high freq tone plus 3D image , a bit drawback on the position of the instrument. It still in early development stage, some improvement on the better pad, casing and speaker position will make this headphone fly. 
 
Best overall: HE90
Best for pop rock music: stax omega
Best for vocal music: stax 009
Price performance: DIY electrostatic, Stax SR007 mk1
Remark: Many people said 007 is the 2nd best. My personal thinking is dark sound signature of 007 have been corrected and matched with T2. SR009 seem a bit bright with T2. I still more enjoy SR009 with my WooWes modified than 007 with T2.
 
Any headphone need their match amplifier as well as match personal owner taste. Hope to have another audition next time for all headphone with T2 and woo wes after flood sitution recover.
 
 

http://www.taf.in.th/showthread.php?t=55194&page=5
More picture and impression in Thai audiophile forum. May need google translator for hep :b